_Foreword:
This is a story I'm still working on of Roger's discovery of Skypeia, as well as his connection to Ohara, the poneglyphs, and Nico Robin. It's purely fictional and not meant to be taken as canon._
Part 1: The Calm Belt
Roger strained his eyes hard.
Before him stood the legendary Poneglyph, supposedly a key component to reaching Raftel and discovering the secrets of the lost civilization. For the past five years, he had been seeking out one of these elusive stones, and had finally come into contact with one that he knew would help bring him closer to his goal. There was only one problem: he couldn't read it.
"Jack!" he cried, calling to one of his officers. Almost instantly, a tall man with glasses and a short beard rushed over to Roger's side and nodded.
"Yes, Cap'n?"
Roger grinned. "Sharp as a tack." He pointed at the Poneglyph. "Can you read this thing?"
Jack examined it for a moment, then turned to Roger and shook his head. "No, Cap'n, but if anyone can, it would be one of the scholars on the Island of Ohara. They have the largest library in the world. But I don't know if they'd help us or not, being that the Poneglyphs are taboo."
Roger just grinned and said, "They'll help us." He nodded slightly to Jack. "Have the navigator plot a course for Ohara. I'm gonna lift this thing onto the ship."
Jack's eyes widened. "Cap'n, that Poneglyph must weigh a couple hundred tons. There's no way you could…"
Before Jack could even finish, Roger had lifted the Poneglyph from where it had been rooted and hoisted it on his back. Almost slapping himself for having doubted Roger's strength, he trudged over to where the Oro Jackson was moored and gave the navigator the order to plot a course to Ohara. Shortly afterward, Roger appeared and set the poneglyph next to the Oro Jackson.
"Ahoy!" cried Roger, the grin from earlier having never left his face, "I need a handful of the strongest lads to hoist this stone up on the ship. I'll need it placed in the steel reinforced hold so it doesn't break through the ship."
Within moments, a handful of young men flocked to the edge of the boat, throwing ropes down to their captain. Roger quickly tied the ropes to the poneglpyh and gave a slight tug to make sure they were secure. Moments later, the struggling men had managed to hoist the poneglyph most of the way up the side of the Oro Jackson.
"Good job, lads, good job," Roger said, having finished his climb up the rope ladder to the ship. He took over for them and finished hoisting the poneglyph, then took it on his back again as he carried it toward the hold. The poneglyph was so heavy that Roger's footprints easily showed in the steel-reinforced deck of the ship, which caused the other men to shudder. Just how strong was their captain?
Reaching the hold, Roger set down the Poneglpyh among the massive piles of gold and jewels and strode back up to the deck. The navigator stood before him, grasping an already plotted chart, which he eagerly handed to Roger. Roger took it and examined it closely.
"Hmm," said Roger, glancing over it. "So you want us to follow the Eternal Pose to the Red Line, take the exit canal near Marijoi, and then sail SE to Ohara?" He shook his head and crumpled the chart up, then tossed it aside. "No, that wastes too much time. Get the Southbird, we're going to sail straight through the calm belt."
"Er, Cap'n," said Jack, overhearing the order, "do you think that's wise? I'm sure the Calm Belt is nothing we can't handle, but there are quite a few seakings we'll have to fight between here and South Blue. Some of the younguns' will be a bit troubled by it."
Roger just grinned and said, "Builds character." He turned to a group of young cabin boys idling nearby and said, "You there, lads, bring me my spear. We're in for quite a fight."
The boys scurried off, and within moments, returned, struggling to drag the heavy spear over to their captain. Almost effortlessly, Roger plucked it up from the deck and swung it over his head, the massive weapon seeming like a toothpick in his huge hands. At his side was Jack, who was spinning two discs on the middle fingers of both hands, the discs having been created using the power of his maru maru fruit. To Jack's side was Roger's swordsman, who stood ready with Shodai Kitetsu drawn, the legendary sword ready to cut through as many seakings as possible.
"Stand ready," cried Roger, his feet shifting into a battle stance. "They'll come at us as soon as we enter the threshold. Have the helmsman ready the oars. We'll start rowing as soon as we hit the belt."
Less than an hour later, they entered the belt and the wind stopped. Within moments, a loud rumbling could be heard, and hundreds of seakings popped up in front of the ship. Before Roger could even give the order to begin, the officers of his men had at them. While Roger's swordsman effortlessly slashed through them with his legendary sword, Jack did the same with his maru discs. Brandishing his mighty spear, Roger hacked and slashed through several of them as well.
After two hours of fighting and rowing, however, Roger and his men were growing exhausted. With an exhausted look, Roger gave a sidelong glance at his swordsman and said, "The Calm Belt's in the way. Cut it."
The swordsman nodded and readied his sword. The other officers and Roger stood aside as he approached the bow of the boat and shouted, "Tenheki Mizukai!" [Heaven-split Water cut]
Raising his sword, he sliced down forward and straight, employing his ultimate technique. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then, as if the very air around The Oro Jackson had been split in two, a rush of wind shot forward, causing the water level to recede directly in front of and below the ship. Off to the port and starboard sides formed two walls of water, extending as far as the eye could see. The swordsman smiled and sheathed his sword, who nodded to Roger.
"Straight ahead!" cried Roger, grinning from ear to ear. And the Oro Jackson sailed on peacefully through the rift in the calm belt.
[To be continued…]